Parrot on verge of annihilation poses first hurdle for new Environment Minister

Environment Minister Melissa Price faces her first big test after government documents emerged showing plans to bulldoze a huge swathe of Queensland forest risk wiping an endangered bird off the planet.

The revelations increase pressure on the newly promoted minister to reject the proposal and demonstrate her stated commitment to "preserving our country for future generations”. However this would put Ms Price at odds with Queensland Coalition MPs who have lobbied for the mass land clearing to proceed.

A plan to clear about 2000 hectares at Cape York would threaten the "highly endangered" golden shouldered parrot, internal government documents show.Credit:Via Bush Heritage

The plan involves razing about 2000 hectares of pristine Queensland forest at Kingvale Station on Cape York Peninsula, to make way for crops

The area to be cleared – mostly eucalypt forest and melaleuca swamplands - is almost three times the size of the combined central business districts of Sydney and Melbourne.

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However a Department of the Environment and Energy briefing document obtained by the Australian Conservation Foundation under freedom of information laws shows the plan would impact nine vulnerable or endangered animals, including the endangered golden-shouldered parrot.

The document states that the parrot was once found across most of Cape York Peninsula but now lives only in two small areas near Kingvale Station. It cites expert advice that the parrot is also likely to be found on the land slated for clearing, which contains suitable foraging habitat and breeding sites.

New Environment Minister Melissa PriceCredit:Alex Ellinghausen

“It is likely that the clearing of vegetation and planting of sorghum on Kingvale Station will adversely affect breeding habitat critical to the survival of the species,” the document states.

“As the species is at very high risk of extinction in the wild in the near future ... the proposed action is likely to have a significant impact on this species.”

The former Queensland Newman government approved the proposal, however the federal government determined in December last year that the clearing must also be assessed and approved under Commonwealth law. Coalition MPs including Barnaby Joyce, Matt Canavan and Warren Entsch stridently opposed the move.

The land proposed for clearing drains into two rivers that run into the Great Barrier Reef 200 kilometres downstream.

The department briefing said the proposal involved “high amounts of fertiliser, including nitrogen and phosphorus”. As Fairfax Media has reported, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority says that during floods the clearing “is almost guaranteed” to result in fine sediment entering the reef, damaging water quality.

Old growth forest in the vicinity of Kingvale Station, where 2000 hectares is set to be cleared.Credit:Australian Conservation Foundation.

A draft report by the Department of the Environment and Energy in May recommended the proposal be approved. Former environment minister Josh Frydenberg was due to make a final ruling on the plan before being succeeded by Ms Price last month.

Ms Price said she would soon be briefed by the department on the proposal, which she would consider “carefully”.

‘The Australian government has a strong record of protecting our biodiversity,” she said, adding federal law “ensures that we have a robust framework to assess the potential impacts of proposed actions”.

Australian Conservation Foundation nature campaigner Andrew Picone said Ms Price showed interest in protecting endangered wildlife in her previous role when she oversaw the delivery of targets for threatened species strategies.

“ACF strongly urges Minister Price to now stand up for threatened species by preventing the proposed environmental destruction,” he said.

Labor environment spokesman Tony Burke said the Coalition had consistently turned a blind eye to land clearing near the Great Barrier Reef and the documents “simply make the case for federal action even more compelling”.

“There’s not much point claiming you care about threatened species if you’re willing to see the destruction and large scale clearing of the places where they live,” he said of Ms Price.